Distribution
|
Worldwide
(richest in the Old World, except for Australia, which has few species). |
Diversity |
Globally 1800
species in about 40 genera (Brothers & Finnamore, 1993). |
Biology |
Ectoparasitoids of larvae or pupa of other insects. Diurnal
except for a few nocturnal or crepuscular desert species. Pronounced
sexual dimorphism is evident (Brothers & Finnamore, 1993). |
References |
Brothers, D.J. &
Finnamore A.T. 1993. Superfamily Vespoidea pp. 161-278..
In
GOULET, H. & HUBER,
J. eds.. Hymenoptera of the World: an identification guide to families.
Research Branch, Agriculture Canada, Ottawa, Canada, 668 pp.
Brothers DJ, Lelej AS 2017.
Phylogeny and higher classification of Mutillidae (Hymenoptera) based on
morphological reanalyses. Journal of Hymenoptera Research 60:
1-97.
https://doi.org/10.3897/jhr.60.20091
Péringuey, L. 1899. Description of twelve new species of the genus
Mutilla (order Hymenoptera) in the South African Museum. Annals of the South African Museum 1:
439-451.
Waldren, G.C., Sadler, E.A., Murray, E.A., Bossert, S., Danforth, B.N. &
Pitts, J.P. 2023.
Phylogenomic inference of the higher classification of velvet ants (Hymenoptera:
Mutillidae). Systematic Entomology 1–25.
https://doi.org/10.1111/syen.12588 |
Credits
|
Photographs
© Simon van Noort (Iziko Museums of South Africa) or © Denis Brothers (University
of Kwazulu-Natal).
|
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